Challenge
by majorfangirl
Summary: Ino and Sakura's latest challenge is to see who can get a boyfriend first, but when their targets are NOT interested, what's a girl to do? NaruIno, ShinoSaku, mentions of KibaHina, NejiTen, and ShikaTema, onesided ChoSaku, GaaIno, NaruSaku, and ShinoHina.
1. Prologue

**A/N: I decided to go ahead and start this one too. I'm definitely putting After the Aliens on hiatus for now. Too hard.**

Prologue

The two girls had been friends since they met in pre school. Friends that would challenge each other at _everything_ possible. And their junior year in high school was no different.

Of course, this challenge was different than any other one.

"Hey, Ino," Sakura said, "I bet you can't get a boyfriend before I do!"

Ino couldn't believe she had decided to bring their still-single-ness into the challenges. But she wouldn't refuse something like this. Never in a million years.

"You're on!" Ino shouted. "And don't expect to win!"

"I _won't_ lose to you," Sakura said.

"You keep telling yourself that."

And thus the challenge was made. They would end up getting a lot more than they bargained for in the end, but for now it was the usual challenge made by the two rival best friends. They didn't think falling in love was going to be part of the whole ordeal.

And they _really_ didn't expect not having their feelings returned.

**A/N: Don't forget to read and review and the likes. I finished the first chapter, but it's on my grandmother's computer so I have to save it onto a disk when I'm over there tomorrow.**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Woot! I wrote this all at my grandmother's house. This plot is fun, as is Best Friends.**

Chapter 1

Ino's POV

So the challenge had been made. I was going to make it more interesting though. I had come up with a plan that I was going to run by Sakura. It was really a stroke of genius on my part.

"Sakura, I have an idea about our little challenge," I said. "How about we make it more interesting and pick one boy that must become our boyfriend?"

She stared at me before cracking into a smile. "That's PERFECT, Ino!"

I grinned. "So what boy do you want?" I asked.

"I'm going to try with Shino Aburame," said Sakura. "He's so quiet; he'll be an easy target!"

"Well, I'm going to try Naruto Uzumaki," I said smugly. "The idiot's never had a girlfriend and he never will if he doesn't stop being such a loudmouth."

"So, the challenge begins," she said.

"So it begins," I said and we shook on our new edition to the challenge. I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I came up with this new edition.

~X~

A boyfriend was _not_ something easy to get or why would Sakura and I still be single? Well, Sakura was pretty self-explanatory but _me? Ino Yamanaka_? _Single_? You can understand how a girl like myself would be confused at this fact.

I had an absolute perfect figure and had developed quite nicely. I had long, gorgeous, platinum blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. No one could compare to my perfection.

So I knew I had this challenge in the bag because...well...Sakura wasn't anywhere near as beautiful as me. She had no figure and her forehead was plus size. Her shoulder length pink hair was dull and the only thing that wasn't dull was her bright emerald eyes.

But she was my best friend and had been for most of our lives. We had to get along despite our different looks.

Naruto Uzumaki. Well, let's just say I was way out of his league. He was an idiot to the full meaning of the word. He had spiky blonde hair (darker blonde than mine) and deep blue eyes.

The only thing he was really good at was sports, but that was because he had a lot of energy. He did pretty well in art too, but that didn't attract a girl. Naruto was on whatever team was playing that season and was still allowed to play despite his poor grades because he was so good.

Another student, Rock Lee, was also very athletic, but he only ran track. He also studied very hard and did a lot better in school than Naruto. But he wasn't very popular with girls either.

It was Sasuke Uchiha who could catch an eye or two. He did really good in school and was one of the smartest (Sakura, Shikamaru Nara, and Neji Hyuuga also were) students and played football. He was very good looking and I had spent a lot of time crushing on him when we had first met, but now I realized he wasn't my type.

Shikamaru Nara was the absolute smartest, which was pretty weird if you ask me. I had known him and Chouji Akimichi as long as I had known Sakura, and he was lazy with no motivation. When I confronted him about this, he said his grades were nothing special and school was "too troublesome."

Chouji Akimichi was Shikamaru's best friend. He loved to eat and was rather chubby. I can't say anything worse because he is _way_ too sensitive about his size and it always in denial about it.

Neji Hyuuga was a year older than we were and also rather hot. He was a very prideful person and played football and basketball. As far as I knew, he was dating a girl named Tenten and Hinata Hyuuga was his cousin.

Tenten was a girl that I didn't really know. All I knew was she was dating Neji and played on the soccer team.

Hinata Hyuuga was a shy girl in our grade. She was a pretty good friend but she spent most of the time alone. She had an obvious crush on Kiba Inuzuka and was one of the few people to be close to Shino.

Kiba Inuzuka was the other one to be close to Shino. He was loud, but not annoying like Naruto. Maybe I only say this because he's considered hot too, but it's true. He's in love with Hinata and would do anything she says but he's such a hopeless romantic that it hasn't worked out between them yet.

Shino Aburame was Kiba's best friend and a complete mystery. He hardly spoke to anyone and he could be right behind you without you knowing. He didn't seem like Sakura's type, but then Naruto wasn't exactly my type either.

Temari was actually a student at Suna High, not Konoha High, but they had a better program here, so she exchanged with a girl named Hebi, leaving her two younger brothers behind. She was two years older than me.

I had very high grades too, but I wasn't like Sakura. She was very serious about her studies and sometimes came across as a know-it-all.

I kind of wondered why she wasn't the one to choose Naruto. He had once asked her out back in the beginning of junior high. Not that she had said yes, but he would probably have still gone for her. Well, we'll never know, so big deal.

Anyway, I was pretty sure of myself as I called him on the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Naruto. It's Ino."

"What do you want?"

He didn't sound at all enthusiastic that a babe was calling him. I started to lose confidence. Maybe I really _couldn't_ do this. Maybe Sakura would end up winning and I would stay single.

But I couldn't give up. Not when I had just accepted a challenge from her. I opened my mouth, and out came the words, "Do you want to go out with me?"

**A/N: Yay! Cliffhanger! Everyone loves a cliffhanger!**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow, this took me a long time to write…could this idea be a dud when I was looking forward to it so much?**

_Naruto's POV_

_She had to be joking_. How the world could Ino spontaneously ask me out? It had to be a joke. Ino Yamanaka was definitely playing some sort of prank on me. (And here I was always the real prankster.)

"Well? Are you going to answer me or not?"

Okay, maybe she wasn't joking. But now she expected me to say yes. How ridiculous was that?

"No way," I said.

"WHAT?"

"I said no, I really don't want to go out with you."

"_Why not_?"

"Because! You're mean! And I really don't like you! You always ask like you're so great, but you're really just a girl whose too sure of herself. And you even tell your _best friend_ mean things," I told her, wondering why she was even asking in the first place.

"Oh, you're just sore because Sakura doesn't like you!""Neither do you, so why are you asking me out?"

"Maybe I just realized my feelings for you."

Okay, I wasn't the brightest jewel in the treasure chest, but I wasn't _that _dumb. She was obviously lying, but why had she asked me out in the first place? This was just too weird, but I wasn't going to try and find out by going with her.

"No, no, no! No!" I hung up. I had probably made it plenty clear that I was rejecting her. Stupid Ino. Why did Sakura even hang out with her? All they ever did was compete over everything. But Sakura was so much more loveable than Ino could ever be.

Ino used to be nice. She had helped Sakura become the woman she was, but she was really mean to me. Most people had been because I used to be _that kid_. The kind who really just want a friend but is so overly friendly that they are written off as crazy, weird, or annoying? Yep. That was me. (A/N: I needed a reason for Naruto to have had people mean to him, so I took the same reason people are mean to me.)

I was different by that time, but some people still saw me as the crazy, clingy Naruto. (A/N: Same here.) So I had some issues making the friends I had. But Ino never had problems like that. She was able to make friends with anyone and I had secretly admired her for that.

In fact, there had been a time when I had had a crush on her before she had pulled Sakura out of her shell. Then my heart was stolen completely. Why Ino had chosen now of all times to try and date me, I had no clue.

It wasn't important. I had been over her for a long time and I'd never want to go out with her, ever. Right?

~X~ Sakura's POV

I picked up the phone, heart pounding wildly. It was time to call Shino and beat Ino at the challenge. there was no ay Shino would reject me over this. I had the easiest choice possible. He would be putty in my perfectly manicured hands.

Suddenly, nerves overcame me and I put the phone down. What was I going to say to him when he answered? I shook my head. It would be better to ask him in person. Yes, definitely better to ask him in person.

Chickening out? I was _not_ chickening out. I just needed a little more time and who asks someone out over the _phone_? Hello, how unromantic can you get? _Ino_ would do something like that, not me.

Okay, I was chickening out. But who could blame me? I was about to ask out someone I hardly knew and didn't like that way. And he couldn't hang up on me if I asked him in person.

Was I really that scared of rejection from someone I didn't kike? Yes, indeed, I was. No girl wants to be rejected even if she doesn't like the rejecter. Also, losing this challenge with Ino was unacceptable. She'd never let me live it down, losing at something she thought was really easy.

No, failure was no an option. I would have to ask Shino in person at school on Monday.

~X~

Monday came far quicker than I would have liked and I knew that I had no choice at this point because if I waited any longer, Ino would snag Naruto and beat me.

So, when the final bell rang, I nervously looked for Shino. We didn't have any classes together and he all but disappeared during lunch, so I hadn't had a chance to see him all day.

Unfortunately, I had no clue where his locker was or where I could find him. As my eyes searched the crowd, they landed on, not Shino, but the next best thing: Kiba and Hinata.

"Hey, guys, do you know where Shino is?" I asked casually, as if looking for Shino was something I did every day.

"Actually, he's sick today," Kiba said.

"Oh," I said. "Okay, well, bye."

I heard Kiba say, "That was weird," and Hinata reply with, "Y-yeah," as I walked away.

~X~

So maybe being casual about looking for Shino while having no idea of his health condition didn't make me look like someone completely in her right mind, but whatever.

What was more important was making sure that I did indeed find him and ask him. Which was easier said than done. For one, I wasn't planning on asking Kiba or Hinata again any time soon, so I'd have to put some effort into my search, and two, I didn't even know if he'd be back at school the next day. I hadn't even thought to ask how serious his illness was or if he was gonna be better soon.

With a sigh, I decided I would just look for him again the next day.

~X~

Well, one thought of mine turned out to be wrong: it turns out, I had three classes with Shino and I never noticed. Second hour, third hour, and sixth hour.

I finally noticed him because, in second hour, he had said to me, "Sakura, Kiba and Hinata told me that you were looking for me yesterday."

"Yeah," I said, "but you should probably get to class."

"This is my class."

The bell rang, ending our conversation. I made sure to keep a close watch for him, to see what other classes we had together. Finally, at the end of the day, I was able to get him alone.

"Shino, I've been meaning to ask you, do you want to go out with me?"

I waited anxiously for his response.

"…no, sorry, Sakura, but I really don't want to."

**A/N: Dun dun dun!**

**Bara: How could he?**

**Me: I know, right?**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Yeah, the next chapter of Challenge!**

**Bara: How do you plan to write this now that they have both been rejected?**

**Me: well, you see…………………………**

**Uh………………..**

**Bara: Well, maybe they could-**

**Me: IT'S MY STORY!**

**Bara: I'm…sorry…didn't mean to offend you.**

Shino's POV

"…no, sorry, Sakura, but I really don't want to."

What was she thinking? The fact that she didn't even know what classes I had with her alone proved that she didn't ever really notice me. I couldn't quite figure out what, but something was up.

"What? But…Shino…I…"

"You don't know me, Sakura. You hardly even spoke to me before today, so I don't know why you want to go out with me now."

"Maybe I suddenly realized that I like you?"

She was lying, even an idiot could tell. I wasn't going to fall for it. Just because I didn't talk to many people didn't mean I was desperate for a girl or easily susceptible to the pinkette's charms.

Not that I thought she had any, but I digress.

"I'm sorry, Sakura, but no."

And with that, I turned away from her, not wanting to listen to her try and come up with some reason for me to date her. I didn't want to, for I still had feelings for another, though I knew I would never have her.

~X~

"Whoa, seriously? That Haruno chick asked you out?" Kiba asked. He had called and badgered me into telling him why Sakura was looking for me and I had finally relented.

"Why didn't you say yes?!?! She's a total babe, not so much as Ino or…uhm…well, anyway, you should have said yes! I really don't understand you sometimes," his friend said.

I knew I had wanted to say Hinata, and I also knew that I couldn't tell Kiba that Hinata was the one who had kept me from saying yes. I knew that she had feelings for Kiba and Kiba returned them, but I couldn't let go of the flame for Hinata that I had.

"Kiba, she has three classes with me and thought we had no classes together. She doesn't even know me."

"Shino, when will you ever learn? If she dates you, she can get to know you just fine! You never turn down a date with a girl like Sakura!" We both were upset that our best friend did not understand our logic.

"All I'm saying is that you don't need to be so antisocial. You could use a girlfriend, and Sakura seems good for you," Kiba finally said, then hung up without saying goodbye.

I was used to this, having been good friends with Kiba and Hinata for years, and didn't even stop to think that what he said might be true. I didn't like Sakura and she didn't know me. It was as simple as that.

~X~ Ino's POV

It was days later and I was still very angry about Naruto rejecting me. I could hardly believe that he had the nerve to reject _me_. It was almost as if I…no way.

Sakura and I had still spent lots of time together, just like best friends do, but neither had ever mentioned the challenge. It was something that couldn't be mentioned until it was won, though I was dying to here how things were going with Shino. I didn't, however, have any intention of telling her that the idiot had said no to me.

Besides, even if I had been turned down that one time, I still had plenty of tricks up my sleeve. I was a master at getting guys, I was a beauty queen, I was amazing, I was definitely not going to pull this off!

Yes, I was already thinking negatively, which was something I immediately shook off. There was no way I was going to let him get me down, not when I was risking losing to _Sakura_.

If I was going to get with Naruto, I had to get closer to his friends. Unfortunately, he mainly hung out with Sasuke, who wouldn't get within three feet of me due to my junior high obsession with him. He occasionally spoke with Kiba, Shino, Chouji, and Shikamaru, so I got out a piece of paper and wrote their names down.

Soon I would know more about Naruto than anyone else, and then I would attack. His heart would be mine before he even knew what hit him and Sakura would have to admit defeat to me.

I imagined a little chibi Naruto floating behind me with hearts in his eyes, and Sakura with tears streaming down her face while Shino completely ignored her. It was a very beautiful scene.

**A/N: My Lord that was HARD to write! I've come up with a few plot drivers, and I'm sorry this chapter was so short.**

**Bara: But I thought you could-**

**Me: IT'S. MY. STORY. Gosh! People these days! Anyway, next time: Ino's on a mission to get to know Naruto better, another transfer student is coming, one that Ino can't take her eyes off of, and Sakura gets asked out, but not by someone she would expect! Plus, a peek at Kiba and Hinata's budding relationship!**

**Bara: Remember to review. If no one reviews, this story won't get update for a long time.**

**Me: So review, darn it! I hate not having anyone care about this story at all!**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: I know, it has been FORVER since I updated this, but when people responded when it was threatened with cancellation, I figured I needed to get a jump on it.  
**

**Bara: Except you didn't start writing for a long time…**

**Me: So? I have it now, so they should be happy.**

Ino's POV

Mission: Get to Know Naruto commenced the next day when I ran up to Chouji on the way to school.

"Oh, hey, Ino."

"I was just wondering, what do you know about Naruto?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

"What the…that's kind of out of the blue. Why do you have a sudden interest in Naruto? Cuz I heard that you even asked him out."

"Alright, e and Sakura have a little challenge going on and one of us has to get a boyfriend to win. So we each picked someone we thought would be an easy target. She chose Shino and I chose Naruto. But he doesn't like me yet and this is all part of a plan to get him."

"Sakura…chose Shino?" Chouji asked.

"Yes, but that's beside the point. What _I _need to know is anything you can tell me about _Naruto_."

"Okay, well, he likes when people just talk to him like a friend. He probably would have liked it if you had gotten close to him before you asked him, but it's too late for that now."

"Well? Is that it?"

"Yeah, that's about it," he said.

"Well, thanks, I guess."

"Hey, can I ask you about-"

"No time, gotta go ask more people! Bye!" And with that, I charged toward our school, looking for Shikamaru along the way.

~X~

Shikamaru didn't tell me crap. Just that he was loud, obnoxious, and troublesome. Not that I didn't know _that_ already.

"Hey, guess what I heard! I heard that Sakura Haruno asked out Shino Aburame?"

"Who?"

"You know, the weird, quiet guy."

"Oh, the creepy one…well, guess what _I_ heard. Ino Yamanaka asked out that Uzumaki boy!"

"Seriously? What is with those two? Are they _that_ desperate?"

"Well, I have the two of you beat! Someone who isn't Naruto or Lee wants to go out with Sakura!"

"So? I heard that there's a transfer student! Temari's younger brother switched with some other person."

"I still think the news that Ino would stoop so low is the best. I mean, she thinks she's _so_ cool, but this just proves that she's actually not and she's really a lo-"

"You know," I said, putting a hand on this girl's shoulder, "there's nothing I hate more than idle gossip."

"A-ah, Ino, I was just-"

"I'll let you off with a warning, but I'd be careful who I talk about next time," I said, blowing a kiss as I walked away.

~X~

The transfer student was, to put it simply, hot. You could tell he was related to gorgeous Temari, they both _very_ good looking. I fell head over heels as soon as Gaara introduced himself.

In my head, I saw our first date, our first kiss, his proposal, our wedding, man, we had such gorgeous children!

And then came crashing down to reality and remembered that I was bound to Naruto until I had beaten Sakura in our challenge. Either that or give up…never! I absolutely would _not _admit defeat to Sakura, never in a million years! Not even for hot Gaara!

It was kind of depressing, stalkerishly watching him and knowing that it would be some time before I got to go out with him…maybe if we got to know each other and fell for each other before, he would understand what I had gotten myself into and would even love and support me through the entire experience.

After all, he was my soul mate.

~X~ Shino's POV

That day at lunch, I sat at my normal table with Kiba, Hinata, Neji, Tenten, and Lee. I noticed Sakura staring at me multiple times that day, and more so now that it was lunchtime.

As I silently ate my lunch, I did what I always do: I observed what was going on around me, watched other people living their lives. Naruto, who was sitting with Sasuke, and a few others named Sai, Suigetsu, Juugo, and Karin, waved the new guy over.

The table was full and Temari, who usually didn't even go to the cafeteria for lunch, but was most likely just joining her brother on his first day, didn't have a clue where to sit until Ino flagged her down, to sit with her, Sakura, Shikamaru, Chouji, plus two other girls.

I turned my attention back to our table, where Neji and Tenten were locked in a deep discussion about some sort of project or something that they had to do for one of their classes.

"So, what do you think of the new guy, Hinata?" Kiba asked.

"W-well, he's a little quiet, but I bet once you get to know him, he's a really nice person."

"Bah, you think everyone's nice deep down! You're such an innocent!" he said. "But…I…really like that about you…" He blushed and looked away, and Hinata did the same. As usual, I kept my composure, looking unaffected by this even if I did know, deep down inside, that Hinata liked Kiba and Kiba returned her feelings.

I couldn't help that I liked her, even if I would never express my feelings to her because I knew it was hopeless. She was the only girl I had ever been close to in my life, the only girl I had ever met who wasn't twofaced and obsessed with boys.

I would eventually have to move on from her, even if I knew that there was no one better for me than her. She deserved to be with Kiba, the one she liked, and, though I hated to admit it, Kiba was a nice guy who deserved a girl like Hinata.

~X~ Sakura's POV

After a long day of watching Shino, I didn't have a clue what I was supposed to do. The man was a complete mystery! How was I supposed to catch his interest when I had no clue about him?

It was going to be a lot harder work than I thought, and I didn't have the slightest idea when Chouji Akimichi stopped me on the way out of school.

"Yes?"

"Um…Sakura, I know you're doing that challenge with Ino and stuff, but maybe…while you're waiting…what I'm trying to say is…Sakura, will you go on a date with me?"

**A/N: Dun dun dun! Plot twist!**

**Bara: I'm starting to think your plot twists are just a way to drag the story out…**

**Me: Sh-shut up! Free Naruto oneshots are still open, check out my deviantART for more information. Next time: Sakura runs into Shino in public, but it's not exactly the best time! Meanwhile, Ino, in an effort to pump information from Kiba befriends Hinata, but letting her guard down might mean that a new girl could enter the scene and snatch Gaara up! And why is Naruto hiding in closets?**


End file.
